Sucker-Like Structures on the Pathogenic Amoeba Naegleria fowleri

Scanning electron microscopy photograph of a human isolate of Naegleria fowleri amoeba grown in axenic culture displaying sucker-like structures, called amoebastome, used for a novel form of phagocytosis. There appears to be an inverse correlation between the mean number of suckers per amoeba and the virulence of a particular strain for mice. To read the original paper and see more photos, the link to the 1984 paper can be found here: http://aem.asm.org/cgi/reprint/47/1/12 Photo provided by Dr. Francine Marciano-Cabral from the Virginia Commonwealth University.